CombinatoRx Incorporated and Bio One Capital of Singapore have established CombinatoRx Singapore Pte Ltd. CombinatoRx Singapore, will apply CombinatoRx's combination high throughput screening (cHTS) technology to discover and potentially develop novel product candidates to treat infectious diseases, with an initial focus on hepatitis C and hepatitis B, claims a company release.

"The formation of CombinatoRx Singapore is designed to address a significant global health need by advancing the development of novel therapeutics for infectious disease while also acting as a gateway for CombinatoRx to the Asian scientific and business communities," commented Alexis Borisy, president and CEO of CombinatoRx.

"We chose Singapore because of the availability of world class scientific and clinical talents in infectious diseases, developed intellectual property and regulatory infrastructure and most importantly, the Singapore government's commitment to the biomedical sciences industry. In addition, the support of BioOne Capital allows CombinatoRx to apply its discovery technology and expand its pipeline of new potential medicines in one of the largest global disease markets," added Borisy.

As a drug development company, CombinatoRx Singapore will focus on developing a range of preclinical and clinical development capabilities. Located at the Biopolis in Singapore, CombinatoRx Singapore has plans to employ approximately twenty full-time researchers and is expected to commit USD 20 million to the development of novel drug candidates for infectious diseases.

"CombinatoRx's technology may accelerate the discovery and development of product candidates designed to target multiple biological pathways. Bringing CombinatoRx's unique competitive advantages to Singapore will position Singapore as a source of innovative new therapeutics to address the large infectious disease market," said Swee-Yeok Chu, CEO, Bio One Capital.

CombinatoRx, Incorporated is a biopharmaceutical company that develops new medicines built from synergistic combinations of approved drugs, designed to attack disease on multiple fronts

Bio One Capital is a leading biomedical sciences investment management company based in Singapore.